1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to Rhodamine B which is modified to contain a vinyl group and its incorporation into radically polymerized compounds such as diallyldimenthyammonium chloride (DADMAC) polymers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Technological advances have made it economically practical to monitor the residual level of polymeric coagulants in wastewater effluents. Knowledge of the fate of coagulants has several advantages:
1) monitor treated water residuals, PA1 2) control coagulant addition, and PA1 3) elucidate coagulation mechanisms.
This allows better control of dosage levels of these coagulants and to minimize these polymers contributing to pollution. A common approach to monitoring the level of water soluble polymer coagulants has been, to blend fluorescent dyes in small amounts and to use fluorescence of the mixture to determine the concentration of the polymer in aqueous systems.
This approach has met with some success but it has limitations. In using simple blends of fluorescent dyes with polymeric coagulants there is the problem that the dye associates itself with other components, such as particulates. Subsequent fluorescent detection of the dye does not provide the location of the polymeric coagulant. A more recent approach has been to covalantly modify the dye so that it might be incorporated by means of chemical reaction into the polymer. Since the dye and the coagulant are physically attached, detection of the dye also detects the coagulant polymer. While this approach has met with some success, it is economically important that the dye be readily detected at low concentrations. Particularly there is not presently available a DADMAC polymer which contains chemically combined therewith a fluorescent dye suitable for monitoring these polymers when they are used in aqueous systems.
If it were possible to modify polymers with a highly fluorescent dye, so that the dye became a part of the molecule and that the so modified polymer could be readily detected in the part per billion (ppb) range using existing fluorescent detection techniques, an advance in the art would be afforded. Also of importance would be, to use in the modification of the polymers, a dye which was easily synthesized from available chemicals, was stable and retained a high degree of fluorescence. Finally, the modified polymer should have activity as a water treating chemical corresponding to the activity of a similar unmodified polymer.